Re: Re: CULT:



Bill Shear wrote:
> 
> >And then there are those 100+ year old clumps of I. pallida blooming
> >their heads off around abandoned farm houses, and germanica, variegata,
> >and other old survivors doing the same, buried in tree leaves, competing
> >with perennial grasses and weeds....
> 
> Linda, I'd be very surprised if any of those clumps could be documented as
> being "100+" years old.  At that age, wouldn't they be many yards in
> diameter?  I think most of these naturalized clumps in abandoned yards and
> gardens carry on because the abandoned garden (perennial grasses and weeds)
> remains essentially a disturbed situation.  When succession takes its
> course and brambles and shrubs invade, followed by trees, the irises are
> history.  My suspicion is that the clumps are things that come and
> go--flourish for a few years, almost die out, and then rejuvenate from seed
> or from a few surviving small rhizomes when some fresh disturbance (fire,
> trampling by cattle) reduces competition.
> 
> The biggest and best naturalized bearded iris clumps I have seen are always
> along roadsides, where frequent mowing, flooding, grass fires, etc.
> constantly disturb the environment.

I can relate one experience I have had. I have friends that live in the
foothills of California in an area of old logging and gold mining settlements.

The site if the town of Coutolinc lies near the intersection of two very
old roads. The town itself burned to the ground and was abandoned around
the turn of the century. During spring 4 years ago as I went zipping by
on my way home to the bay area, I glimpsed a reddish violet flower that
I thought was an iris growing about 75 feet off the road. By the time I
remembered and got back to the site some 3 months later, the area was so
overgrown and my memory so imprecise that I could not find the plants. A
year and half went by before I saw them again, at which point I marked
the site to come back during the summer and harvest a few rxs. 

The "clump" was spread over about a 10 foot square area, with most
plants along the perimeter. I took 6 rzs, each from a different spot in
the area. All the plants in the area were small, weak looking and fans
yellowed. 

As it turned out, I got 5 Crimson King and one that I think may be I.
albicans. Time will tell.

Now we have no way to know for sure, but my guess is that they were
growing there when the town burned and have survived ever since.
Certainly they could have reseeded themselves and aren't what I think
they are. (Though I did grow a known CK next to the others for comparison)


John                     | "There be dragons here"
                         |  Annotation used by ancient cartographers
                         |  to indicate the edge of the known world.
________________________________________________

USDA zone 8/9 (coastal, bay) 
Fremont, California, USA 
Visit my website at:
http://members.home.net/jijones

President, Westbay Iris Society
Director, Region 14 of the AIS
Director, American Iris Society
Chairman, AIS Committee for Electronic Member Services

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